Holy Bone

Chapter 1541: The loss of all virtue, the destruction of the family

"Your Excellency the Commander."

When the Bi'an carriage passed through the archway of the market town, Deputy Commander Sun saluted.

The Bi'an carriage stopped.

Jin An lifted the curtain and asked, "Deputy Commander Sun, do you have anything to report?"

Hearing the sound of a woman whimpering and struggling in the carriage, Deputy Commander Sun lowered his eyebrows and did not dare to glance into the carriage: "Commander, someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came just now, but he came in a carriage and left before getting off the carriage. I didn't see which eunuch it was."

"That was when the commander raided Tiangong Miao Pavilion and injured the owner of Tiangong Miao Pavilion, Su Susu."

Jin An snorted coldly, "Fortunately, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has some self-awareness. Seeing that I dared to confiscate the property of the academicians of the Imperial Hospital, they did not come forward to humiliate themselves. They know that if the Chief Supervisor and the Internal Palace Supervisor had not come in person, they would not be able to suppress the anger of the Criminal Investigation Department today."

Of course, the other party might also be planning to kill someone by borrowing a knife, first making the Criminal Investigation Department and the Imperial Hospital kowtow to each other and causing losses to both sides, and then letting the Palace Supervisor whisper something to the emperor to add insult to injury.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs had twelve offices, four departments, eight bureaus, and twenty-four yamen for eunuchs.

Each of the twelve abbreviations has a eunuch of the fourth rank.

Among these twelve prisons, they are divided into important and unimportant ones. For example, the Duzhi Principal who serves the emperor every day and the Neigong Principal who is in charge of the royal treasury are the ones who can speak to the emperor the most.

Therefore, the reinforcements brought in by the Ministry of Internal Affairs saw that the Criminal Investigation Department dared to touch even the academicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau, and knew that the Criminal Investigation Department would take action against the Spice Shop today. There was absolutely no misunderstanding. Unless they were stupid, no one would force himself to show up at this time.

The other party was probably in such a hurry to go back because he wanted to find the Chief Eunuch and test the emperor's attitude. The storm in the capital was too fierce. If there was any big movement in the palace, the people under him should prepare to protect themselves in advance.

……

As time went on, the news of the big commotion caused by the Criminal Inspection Department in the Spice Shop spread throughout the city. The people of the capital city had already learned that the Criminal Inspection Department would go in tonight and behead people and arrest people in the Spice Shop, which no one dared to touch in the past.

For ordinary people, the most common petty officials were big shots whom they could not afford to offend. When they heard that a ninth-rank eunuch in the Ministry of Internal Affairs was beheaded in the street by the Criminal Investigation Department, it caused quite a shock.

The capital city is very lively tonight, because the people of the capital are flocking to the spice shop. Now the whole capital has spread the news that the Criminal Investigation Department is going to go to war with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Criminal Investigation Department, which is responsible for public security, and the eunuchs in the palace have started fighting.

There are many people who like to gossip among the people, and the story becomes more and more bizarre as it spreads.

However, the spice shop was already surrounded by people who came to watch the fun. It was so crowded that it took a long time to get in. When they heard that the commander of the Criminal Investigation Department had brought a large number of people to the residence of the academician of the Imperial Medical Bureau to capture the doctor, these latecomers immediately changed direction and rushed towards the residence of the academician of the Imperial Medical Bureau.

"Sure enough, the familiar Shenwu Marquis is back! On the first day after Shenwu Marquis returned to the capital, he didn't even take a rest, and immediately took action against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and now he is taking action against the Imperial Hospital! The tyrannical Shenwu Marquis who dared to bend his bow and shoot the Rakshasa people outside the imperial city is really back!"

"The business of the spice shop has always been controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial Hospital. In particular, the spice shop has been responsible for developing special rouge for the imperial concubines in the palace. I heard that the imperial concubines' families are behind the spice shop. The Marquis of Shenwu is targeting the imperial concubines in the palace by targeting the spice shop!"

"Hush, you dare to say such a beheading thing, you are throwing your life away! We only need to discuss the struggle between the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Imperial Hospital, and the Criminal Investigation Department!"

"The Criminal Investigation Department came to investigate the spice shop that others dared not to investigate. This time, the Criminal Investigation Department showed off its might!"

The discussion among the people exploded, and the major families of the officials in the capital could not sleep all night. The situation in the capital was about to change. Someone was using the Spice Shop to take action against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Imperial Hospital, and the imperial concubines in the harem.

……

The residence of the Imperial Medical Bureau.

As the Bi'an carriage stopped in front of the mansion, a large number of criminal prosecutors with swords drawn surrounded the mansion. The atmosphere was tense. The originally drowsy gatekeeper was frightened out of his sleepiness and ran into the mansion in panic to inform the situation.

Soon a butler went out to greet the Chief Inspector. The butler asked the Chief Inspector what brought him to the mansion so late at night, but was pushed aside by the men of the Inspectorate. The butler wanted to show off his power as a servant of the Imperial Hospital's academician, but the Chief Inspector put a knife to his neck. Seeing the Chief Inspector rushing into the mansion with murderous intent, he immediately became obedient.

But in the next scene, the butler's expression immediately changed from anger to shock and fear.

Jin'an got off the Bi'an carriage holding Su Susu, the female manager of Tiangong Miaoge, in his hand. Su Susu was like a useless person in Jin'an's hand, unable to struggle. Her hair was disheveled, and she was whimpering and talking nonsense. There was no trace of her beauty as a courtesan anymore, and she looked as miserable as a stray dog.

"Where is Cheng Baiqing, the academician of the Imperial Hospital? I suspect that Cheng Baiqing is collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, so I have come to arrest Cheng Baiqing. You lead the way." Jin An ordered the butler in a cold tone.

When the housekeeper heard the words "treason", he refused to believe it and cried out for justice, saying that his master was a member of the current Imperial Medical Bureau and was deeply loved by the emperor, so how could he be a traitor? Someone was spreading rumors and slandering him, and he hoped that he could see through it.

Jin An directly threw the embroidered shoes and turquoise pendant into the butler's arms: "Are these the shoes of your young lady Cheng Ling'er?"

The housekeeper recognized the shoes as belonging to his young lady at a glance, and asked hurriedly: "My young lady has been missing for seven days. Where did you find my young lady? Where is my young lady now? Has my young lady eaten and slept well these days? I will send someone to pick her up and bring her back home right away."

Jin An snorted coldly: "The daughter of a member of the Imperial Hospital is missing. This is a big deal. Why didn't our Criminal Investigation Department receive your report?"

The housekeeper glanced at the depths of the mansion, holding the shoes and whispered, "Since the old lady passed away due to illness two years ago, the master has been busy with the affairs of the Imperial Hospital every day, and rarely asks about the affairs of the mansion. His relationship with the young lady is sometimes stalemate."

"Seven days ago, the young lady quarreled with the master again and ran away in anger. She has not been heard from for several days. The master said that the young lady would come back after her anger subsided. The master did not allow us to report to the police, and we, the servants, have no say either. Sigh..."

"I have also inquired about the whereabouts of the young lady several times. Someone said that they saw the young lady go to Tiangong Miao Pavilion before she disappeared. But when I asked the shopkeeper of Tiangong Miao Pavilion, he said that the young lady had already returned..."

Jin An looked at the paralyzed Su Susu coldly, and asked, "What did Cheng Ling'er and Cheng Baiqing quarrel about that day?"

The housekeeper hesitated at first, but after the knife on his neck cut a small bloody wound on his skin, the housekeeper hurriedly told the truth: "The master and the young lady often quarreled about the matter of the shopkeeper Su Susu. The young lady said the other day that the master's temperament changed drastically since he met the vixen named Su, and the old lady was poisoned to death by the conspiracy of the two. The master was angry and slapped the young lady..."

"Alas, the young lady ran out of the mansion in grief, saying that she was going to Tiangong Miaoge to kill the vixen to avenge her mother. She asked the master to choose between his biological daughter and the vixen he kept outside..."

Jin An: "Cheng Ling'er is dead. She was killed by this vicious woman. Take me to find Cheng Baiqing."

The housekeeper looked up at Su Susu in disbelief, then burst into tears while holding the embroidered shoes in his arms, showing the deep affection between master and servant.

Led by the butler, the group surrounded a medicinal garden in the Cheng Mansion, where there was a medicine pavilion.

The housekeeper, who looked sad, pointed at the medicine cabinet and said, "The master often studies prescriptions in the medicine cabinet and does not go out for several days. The master has not come out of the medicine cabinet these days. The three meals a day are personally placed at the door by the old servant."

As the door of the medicine pavilion was broken open from the outside, knife shadows flashed, and a large number of criminal inspectors rushed into the medicine pavilion. At this moment, many poisonous centipedes fell from the sky. These poisonous centipedes were very strange, with shiny black shells, extremely poisonous, and transparent wings on their backs, which allowed them to fly in the sky.

The old Taoist priest who had been following Jin'an was shocked when he saw this. He reached out and hurriedly picked up the wine gourd, took a sip of Sanyang wine, and then sprayed it at the flying black centipede falling from the sky.

Zizi!

These flying black centipedes were filled with cold yin energy, and once they came into contact with the Sanyang wine, black smoke immediately began to rise from their hard shells. Their bodies curled up and fell to the ground, turning into a pool of blood in a short while.

The blood corroded the floor tiles and created many pits and holes. The blood of these poisonous insects was more poisonous than aqua regia.

There are a lot of flying black centipedes here. The old Taoist priest can't kill them with a sip of Sanyang Wine. The next moment, more flying black centipedes flap their transparent wings and pounce on the outsiders who break into the medicine pavilion.

There were so many of them that it was impenetrable, like a black curtain wall pressing down.

Wherever Jin'an passed, his yang blood burned like a furnace, and all these poisonous insects were ignited in the air and turned into ashes in an instant.

Avenue induction!

  A hundred virtues!

A hundred virtues!

……

This is not the residence of an academician from the Imperial Medical Bureau; this is clearly a poisonous den in the underworld.

With Jin'an clearing the way, the flying black centipedes in the medicine cabinet quickly died out.

According to what the housekeeper said on the way here, the medicine pavilion is the most important place in the Cheng Mansion. Many of Cheng Baiqing's new medicines and precious medicinal materials are hidden here. Only Cheng Baiqing can enter, and even Cheng Baiqing's disciples have no right to come in.

This medicine cabinet covers a large area. After going deeper into the cabinet, I smelled a strange musty smell.

The old Taoist priest took out the yellow talisman again and stuffed it into his nose: "Little brother, do you smell something moldy and smelly?"

Jin An nodded: "Yes."

The old Taoist sniffed the air hard, looking for the source of the strange smell. Seeing that he couldn't find the source, he took out the talisman paper from his nose and smelled it again.

"It's the smell of rotten food!"

The old Taoist priest cried out in surprise and quickly stuffed the talisman paper back into his nose.

Soon, they saw a lot of stinking and moldy food. All the food was placed on wooden trays, untouched. The meat and rice were covered with dense, hairy mold spots, some yellow, some green, and some purple...

Those wooden pallets were stacked densely, and based on three meals a day, they contained at least ten days' worth of food.

"This Cheng Baiqing seems to be obsessed with refining medicine. He has even forgotten to eat or drink."

The old Taoist priest was still praising him, and then he whispered to Jin An: "Little brother, how much do you think Cheng Baiqing is a human? How much is a ghost?"

It is still spring and the weather has not yet warmed up significantly, so the food has been spoiled for ten days and the stench has been slow to dissipate. The Cheng mansion's housekeeper did not notice anything unusual when he came to deliver the food every day.

Those food trays took up a lot of space, almost filling up the floor. The old Taoist jumped over the food like a funny guy, and an alchemy furnace appeared in front of him.

The alchemy furnace is three people tall. There is a slow fire beating inside the furnace at this moment, as if it has reached the final stage of slowly burning the pills.

However, the top of the alchemy furnace was lifted up by a winch chain beside it, and it seemed that the collection of elixirs had been completed.

"We haven't seen Cheng Baiqing, the academician of the Imperial Hospital, along the way. Could it be that he got the news in advance and fled out of fear of punishment?" the old Taoist muttered.

Jin An's eyes were always fixed on the alchemy furnace.

The old Taoist priest looked around and found a long ladder next to the rows of tall medicine cabinets. He climbed up the ladder and looked curiously into the alchemy furnace from above. He saw a figure sitting cross-legged in the furnace's simmering fire.

He was a thin old man with white hair and beard, motionless, like a sitting corpse. His face, hands, and neck were covered with hairy mildew spots, like ugly blue or purple corpse spots all over his body.

Under the slow fire of the alchemy furnace, the corpse spots were contained and did not spread further.

"Isn't this Cheng Baiqing, the academician of the Imperial Medical Bureau?" the old Taoist exclaimed.

Jin An was clearly standing still and did not see the scene inside the alchemy furnace, but at this moment he said something shocking: "To be more precise, he is the empty shell of Cheng Baiqing. Cheng Baiqing is already dead."

"The academician of the Imperial Hospital had already died seven years ago when he met Su Susu!" This was the old Taoist's first reaction.

"Then how did he enter the palace all these years without being monitored by the Tianshi Mansion in front of the Imperial City?"

Jin An: "He must have died just a few days ago. The reason why he is sitting in the alchemy furnace now is because someone is refining the corpse with alchemy fire and using elixirs to slow down the decay of the body. They don't want the outside world to know too early that the academician of the Imperial Hospital died suddenly at home."

The old Taoist priest was still standing on the long ladder, looking at Cheng Baiqing's body sitting in the fire, full of doubts: "What is the purpose of preserving his body? Does the person behind this want to keep Cheng Baiqing's body for other purposes, such as poisoning important people in the palace?"

Jin An's face was cold: "Interrogate this witch Su Susu, and everything will be clear."

The dead man who was originally sitting cross-legged in the alchemy furnace without moving suddenly opened his eyes, and an evil black aura flashed in his eyes.

"Be careful, little brother!"

There was no need for the old Taoist priest to remind him, as Jin'an's spiritual consciousness had already seen the changes in the alchemy furnace. Jin'an was well prepared and summoned the Qin King's Bone Mirror, suppressing Cheng Baiqing's body so that it could not move.

"You, no matter what, are not qualified to show off your skills in front of me." Jin An directly grabbed Cheng Baiqing's body out of the alchemy furnace.

Without the Dan fire to suppress the death energy, the mold spots on the surface of Cheng Baiqing's body spread rapidly and began to stink. Then the flesh and blood fell off like mud, and the internal organs fell to the ground. The ten-day decay process was completed in a short period of time.

"The soul is possessed by an object. A third-level Shinto dares to eavesdrop on our conversation. Let me see who is controlling the corpse!" Looking at the highly decayed body of Cheng Baiqing in his hand, Jin An did not throw it away in disgust. Instead, he directly used the Taoist technique of searching the bag to take objects and started a remote battle to catch the man.